Coon Rapids hosts final Summer in the City event

The city of Coon Rapids will host its fifth and final 2012 Summer in the City event Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Members of the Coon Rapids City Council and city staff will meet with neighborhood residents at Aspen Park.

Aspen Park is located in Ward 5 at 10300 Foley Blvd. and is home to the Central Little League baseball fields.

There will be an open house, at which ice cream bars will be served, from 6:30 to 7 p.m.,

Then from 7 to 8 p.m. there will be a formal presentation by Mayor Tim Howe on citywide projects and issues and Ward 5 Councilmember Bruce Sanders on neighborhood projects and issues.

This is the fourth year of the Summer in the City program, which takes place at a different park in the five wards of the city.

The program is designed for residents to interact with their councilmember, talk with city staff and learn about projects and activities going on in the community, according to Kristin DeGrande, city neighborhood coordinator.

The event Aug. 28 will also feature display booths from city departments with various information, plus a fire truck, police squad car and a public works vehicle, DeGrande said.

Cardinal Woods Park in Ward 1, Burl Oaks Park in Ward 2 and Parkside Park in Ward 3 were the locations of the first three Summer in the City programs this year.

Monday night (Aug. 20) the council and staff gathered at Vineyards Park for the Ward 4 Summer in the City event.

“The weather was awesome as it has been for all the other programs,” DeGrande said.

In the absence of Howe, Councilmember-at large Scott Schulte presided and drew applause from the 65 to 70 people attending when he announced that 119th Avenue, which has been torn up as part of a city street reconstruction project, was to be paved Tuesday (Aug. 21).

According to DeGrande, concerns raised by residents were primarily about safety on the streets with speeding and turn movements at the Round Lake Boulevard intersections with Wedgewood Drive and 119th and 121st avenues particular issues.

In addition, residents reported that two ponds in the area have a sediment build up which has negatively impacted the aesthetics of the ponds, DeGrande said.

Postcards are sent to residents living in the neighborhood of the park where the Summer in the City event is taking place inviting them to come and participate.